Let the bodies pile on high in their thousands a sentence seared into the memories of Britain’s allegedly uttered by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he reluctantly approved the second England wide lockdown late last year.
Faced with fury from relatives of the bereaved, Johnson and his senior ministers emphatically denied the allegation.
The man who made that claim is his former top aide turned Nemesis Dominic Cummings back with more revelations.
Speaking to the British public broadcaster, the BBC, Cummings also questioned the fitness of his former boss for his role as PM and rebuked the government’s pandemic performance.
Just as it did last time the government denies the allegations, saying the Prime Minister has taken the necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice, however, the official statistics tell a different story.
England suffered one of the worst per capita deaths among the world’s major economies last year, blamed by many on lockdown dithering by the government.
The new allegations come only days after number 10 made England the first country to lift almost all COVID related restrictions, despite the rising number of cases, mostly of the delta variant.
A public inquiry into the government’s pandemic response is yet to happen, and it remains to be seen whether these latest revelations from the Prime Minister’s former adviser will seriously puncture his opinion poll rating or lead to pressure from members of his own party for him to step down.